Kiteboarding Tricks

Contents

General Glossary

Backside Spin
A spin where the rider rotates with the back of their body towards the kite first. Sometimes mistakenly referred to as a "blindside spin".

Blind
The rider does not pass the bar so they land with the bar behind their back with their back facing the kite
Referred to like a "Tantrum to Blind", or "Front Flip to Blind"
Sometimes backside spins are mistakenly referred to as "blind" spins

Bone
To bone out a grab or bone out your leg means you straighten it all the way out
So I "boned out grab" is one where your leg or legs are straightened out while grabbing.

Nosebone

Bring back of board to your body by bending back leg & stretching front leg

Butt Check
When the rider lands a trick and drags or slaps their butt on the water. Generally this is considered a sloppy landing.

Corked Spin
Another name for an off-axis spin. When a rider spins and the rider leaves their vertical axis and the board rises up to shoulder level or higher while spinning.

Fakie/Switch
A term from skateboarding that means riding the board in your normal riding position, but travelling the other direction. This isn't really done in kiteboarding since you don't change your foot position mid-trick, so fakie is often interchanged with the term "Switchstance" in kiteboarding, which just means that the rider is riding the board with their opposite foot forward.

Flip
The term can be interchanged with "Invert", but in kiteboarding a Flip is usually a term used to define a tip over tail upside down rotation. There are a few exceptions though.

Frontside Spin
A spin where the rider rotates with the front of their body towards the kite first.

Goofy Foot
Riders who ride with their right foot forward.

Grab
While in the air, if the rider reaches down to the board and clasps their hand on it, it's a "Grab". There are lots of different types of grabs that can be done alone or added to other tricks.

Handle Pass
When the bar is passed from one hand to the other, it's called a Handle Pass. It's usually only used to referred to when the rider passes the bar behind their back.

Invert
When the rider goes upside down while in the air, it's called an Invert.

Mobe or Mobius
An invert that also contains at least a 360 degree spin in it.

Monkey Spin
Another name for an off-axis spin. When a rider spins and the rider leaves their vertical axis and the board rises up to shoulder level or higher while spinning.

Off-Axis Spin
When a rider does a spin but goes off the vertical axis so the board usually gets up to shoulder level or above.

Ole
When the rider does a spin and instead of passing the bar just lifts the bar over their head.

Ollie
When the rider pops the board into the air by pushing down on their back foot and jumping up leading with their front foot. Just like a skateboarding ollie.

Pop
This is when you release from the water.

Progressive Edge
A progressive edge is when the rider builds the edge on approaching the jump so that the hardest edge is right before sending the kite.

Raley-Based Tricks
Tricks built around the Raley. This means they are all tricks with your body extended back with the board above your head, but aren't inverted flips.

Regular/Natural Foot
A rider who rides left foot forward.

Revert
Used to describe landing Switch/Fakie
A Roll To Revert is a Back Roll with a 180 causing the rider to land backwards, or Revert.

Roll
An invert where the board travels in an edge over edge rotation. However, some tricks that follow that rotation aren't called Rolls, and a Back Roll has a tip over tail rotation, so it's very confusing.

Spin
A spin is when the rider and board rotate around on a vertical axis.

Standing Tall
When the rider is about to pop they want to stand tall, which means extending at the hips and knees so they don't absorb the energy

Stomp
When a rider lands a trick in a smooth or clean manner, they have "stomped" the trick.

Style
The look a rider has while riding. A unique style is a unique look to their ride. Things usually considered stylish are well-held grabs, smooth landings, tweaking out tricks, etc. Style usually equates with exceptional technical mastery.

Surface Trick
A trick performed with the board on the water the whole time.

Switchstance
See "Fakie"

Tweak
When a rider moves the board or legs while making a grab. Tweaking out a Method Grab means the rider would grab the board, then possibly bone out one leg.

Beach Launch

Board On
Launching off the beach with your board in your hand and putting the board on your feet.

Board On Grab
Launching off the beach with your board in your hand and putting the board on your feet.

Board On 360
Launching off the beach with your board in your hand, doing a 360 rotation and putting the board on your feet.

Board On 360 Grab
Launching off the beach with your board in your hand, doing a 360 rotation and putting the board on your feet, the grab the tail of the board before landing.

Board On 720
Launching off the beach with your board in your hand, doing a 720 rotation and putting the board on your feet.

Mexican Roll
A Heelside Backroll where the rider throws his head and body down instead of to the side. It's normally considered an uglier version of a Backroll, but it's the rotation style used for a Roll To Blind or KGB. It's sometimes referred to incorrectly as a heelside Front Roll.

Spins

Backside
A spin where the rider rotates with the back of their body towards the direction of travel first. For example, if you are riding in a normal stance with your right foot forward, an anticlockwise rotation will be a "backside rotation."
Backside rotations are often times mistakenly referred to as blindside spins.

Baller
This is a term used for when a rider does the handle pass of their spin by passing the bar between their legs.

Flatline Spin
A spin where the rider goes over their lines instead of passing the bar.

Frontside
A spin where the rider rotates with the front of their body towards the direction of travel first. Eg: In the normal stance with the right foot forward, rotating clockwise.

Off-Axis
When a rider does a spin but goes off the vertical axis so the board usually gets up to shoulder level or above.

Osmosis
When the rider performs a spin by tossing the bar from one hand to the same hand again, bypassing the other hand.
A spin where the rider does a shifty one way, then back the other, then spins back in the direction of their initial shifty.

Shifty
Board is shifted 90 degrees in one direction and then shifted back in the opposite direction.

To Blind
The rider lands with the bar around their back instead of passing the bar.